A MAGA crypto influencer who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Trump meme coins to attend a private dinner with President Donald Trump has spoken out against the 79-year-old.
“I look at Trump differently than I did before attending,” Nick Pinto told the Daily Beast in a statement on Tuesday.
Pinto, 25, attended a dinner at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia on May 22. The ticket cost him $370,000 at the time of the dinner, according to the Australian news program Four Corners, which interviewed Pinto on the disappointing dinner for an episode titled “Chasing Trump’s Billions” this week.
In a TikTok video Pinto filmed during the event, he said Trump left the dinner without even eating. He told Four Corners he now realizes “the entire dinner was about making money.”
In January, 200 million $TRUMP meme coins were released to the public. The top 220 purchasers of the coin received access to the “black-tie optional” dinner. At least $148 million was spent by supporters on tickets for the evening, according to Reuters.
The event was advertised as “Have dinner with Donald Trump,” and “the most exclusive invitation in the world” with the “Crypto President!” Protesters outside the dinner held signs saying “America is not for sale” and “Stop Trump’s crypto corruption.”
Pinto, who works as a marketing director at his brother’s law firm, was No.72 on the list of $TRUMP coin leader board after his $370,000 outlay. The Top 25 on the “leader board” of coin purchasers got a tour of the White House and an “ultra private VIP reception” with Trump.
Pinto says he was hoping to get a picture with Trump at the dinner or record a TikTok video with him. Pinto has 407,000 followers on the platform, where his videos have had over 6 million likes. He has 2.5 million followers on Instagram.
“I was hoping to maybe do a trend or some short video with him, maybe 15 seconds,” Pinto told Four Corners. “It’s not going to take much of his time.”
A suited-up Pinto complained on TikTok during the dinner, saying, “Trump came, gave a speech for, I think, exactly 23 minutes, and then he left. His helicopter was right back there, left pretty quickly, didn’t stay for the dinner. Maybe he’ll come back.”
He said on Four Corners he soon realized there was “no hope” of Trump returning.
“He came, didn’t eat, didn’t drink water. I don’t think he even used the bathroom,” Pinto said. “He just left immediately on his helicopter. I would say the entire dinner was about making money.”
In another TikTok video after the dinner, Pinto filmed inside a Lamborghini, where he said “pretty much all he got” from the dinner was a black cap with “$TRUMP” and “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT” printed on it. “They gave it away to everyone, they had 220 bags.” The video has now had 1.2 million views.
Another video shows him displaying the cap, along with a poster and a lanyard he received at the event.
When Four Corners asked if he felt ripped off, Pinto said, “I would say in a way, I do feel like I maybe kind of got scammed because it was definitely false advertising. They did advertise it as having dinner with Trump. And Trump did not eat anything at all, at least just drink a Diet Coke with us or something like that [then] we definitely would not have felt like we were scammed by him.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
Speaking to the Daily Beast on Tuesday, Pinto said he remains disillusioned with the president after the dinner experience.
“I look at Trump differently than I did before attending. I have not been able to get the TikTok I wanted to get with the president and I don’t even want to make a video with him even if he let me.”
However, Pinto admitted he has held onto almost all of his $TRUMP coins.
“I am hoping they announce another dinner or something similar that will spike the price again and I can sell it for more than what I bought it for,” he said.
“If they don’t, I’ll keep holding as I don’t need the funds at the moment.”
Pinto told the Daily Beast his $TRUMP coins were at one point worth $480,000.
The $TRUMP coin is currently trading at $6.26, down more than 3 percent from yesterday.
Pinto revealed he has previously voted for Trump, but has now changed his mind.
“I wouldn’t vote for Donald again, I may consider voting for his children, however, as I’ve met Eric and Donald Jr. and both were humble enough to talk to me,” he told the Daily Beast. “Eric even let me take photo with him on two different occasions.”
Pinto was part of a report by Australian news program Four Corners on Monday, hosted by John Lyons, the journalist whom Trump berated at the White House after he asked how much richer Trump was now than during his first presidency, after his various business deals.
Lyons, who works for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, had been investigating how much wealth Trump has accumulated since becoming president.
Last month he clashed with Trump after Lyons asked him whether a president in office “should be engaged in so much business activity.”
“Well, I’m really not. My kids are running the business. I’m here,” Trump said, before asking where Lyons was from. “In my opinion, you are hurting Australia very much right now, and they want to get along with me.”
Trump then told Lyons to be “quiet” and took questions from other reporters.
